Japan

Today in text study at our church I was asked if God up above is so helpful and loving, why do things like earthquakes and tsunami's happen?  This question was asked by a 75 year old woman who has struggled with the church's traditional answers to her questions of theodicy.  We talked some about the theology of the cross--that God is present in the suffering, but she still wasn't satisfied.  People who are outside of tradgedy can find comfort that God is present in suffering, but they aren't feeling the effects firsthand.  Our member finds value in the example of the life of Jesus, and the fact that he was killed for the work he did, admirable.  So what do we say when people ask the age old question of why do bad things happen to good people?  We can look to Job where God gives a vague and indirect answer to Job's questioning...God says, were you there when I created the world?  You try being God. 
But I felt that I failed to offer comfort, or illumination, or meet the need presented to me today in text study.  Sometimes what we have to offer isn't sufficient and a ministry of presence just isn't going to cut it.